The Torah places special emphasis on widows and orphans.

Which is why they are our #1 priority

Chesed Menachem Mendel

Addressing the real needs of orphans

All fatherless children -- rich and poor alike -- are at risk. They are especially vulnerable to emotional breakdown and academic failure. For the first time ever, there is a program -- Chesed Menachem Mendel -- that addresses this challenge and offers customized solutions for orphaned children, irrespective of economic circumstances. This program is named for the Lubavitcher Rebbe whose boundless love of children was a hallmark of his leadership.

Historically, fatherless children had the highest rate of dropping out and academic failure. Chesed Menachem Mendel is blazing new trails that radically alter this unacceptable statistic.

While Colel Chabad provides nutritional and material sustenance for impoverished widows and orphans, Chesed Menachem Mendel customizes a program for each individual boy and girl that prevents failure in school and enables them to achieve their full academic, artistic and emotional potential.

Chesed Menachem Mendel’s holistic approach may include any and all of the following:

Psychological evaluation and therapy

Intervention with educators and school administration

Private tutoring and remedial education

Big Brother or Big Sister companionship

Summer Camp

Music or Art lessons

The results are astonishing. Children assisted by Chesed Menachem Mendel manifest few of the scars that normally result from the early loss of a father. Thanks to this intense, one-on-one, customized program, they are thriving academically and socially, and are achieving academic scores and graduation rates as good as or better than their peers who have two living parents.

FAST FACT

327young widows949orphaned childrenprovided with emotional and material support

What we've accomplished with your help:

Colel Chabad is the only organization which takes a holistic approach to the needs of widows and orphans. Of course food security comes first and foremost. But often it is not just, or not even, food that is the problem. Widows and orphaned children encounter enormous social barriers, issues with depression, poor schoolwork and a sense of isolation. Colel Chabad addresses all of these issues on a case by case basis.

What is still left to do:

There is so much more we can do, both in terms of reaching and assisting more widowed families, and in what we are doing for the children themselves. In particular, the cost of psychotherapy, music lessons and summer camp is very high, yet there is little or no volume discount. We need your help in delivering these vital programs to Israel's most vulnerable children.